Sunday, January 04, 2009

New Year's Forecast Results

The Weather Alternative's long-range weather forecast for December 31, 2008-Jan 2, 2009 was based on Saturn's retrograde station. Saturn's energies were concentrated over the Northern Plains southward through Texas. The forecast called for cold and damp conditions to progress southward out of Canada.

The Accuweather map at left for Dec 31st shows a clipper system headed toward the Plains and a blast of arctic cold ending the year on a frosty note. Another storm system hit the central Plains on the 3rd.

This next Accuweather map for January 2nd shows the cold air pouring into the Plains area. This push of cold air is still underway today and has reached down to south Texas.

I have a good friend named Barclay Tait who sells vacation real estate in Niceville, Florida. Back in 1977, he was a 36-year-old basketball coach. That summer, he decided to hitchhike to a Christian conference in Front Royal, Virginia.

Arriving four days early, he went to a nearby forest and pitched his tent by a stream. On the last day, a tall thin hiker with a notebook under his arm suddenly appeared, startling him as he read his Bible.

They introduced themselves, and Barclay explained his presence: "I came out here to meditate." The hiker, whose name was Dave, replied, "Well, I'm an intercessor. What would you like me to pray for?" Feeling overwhelmed, Barclay said, "Uh, frankly, I'd like prayer for a wife—one that God would choose for me."

It was a brief conversation. The man wrote the request in his notebook, promised to pray and walked on.

Fast-forward 11 years to 1988. Barclay has been married for a while, and he and his wife, Sherry, have been divinely guided to move to Asheville, North Carolina, though they don't know anyone there. Within three hours, however, Barclay has a house and a job. Also, a chance encounter in the Holiday Inn parking lot leads them to a Christian group on a hilltop outside of town at the home of a UNC professor.

Arriving just before the 7:00 PM meeting, they see about fifteen cars parked by a rustic log house. They walk in and find people chatting—all strangers to them. But just then, the host walks in from the kitchen and stops dead in his tracks.

"Just a minute; I have something to show you," the host announces. He scampers upstairs, leaving the puzzled Taits standing in the middle of the suddenly hushed room. In a moment he reappears with a well-worn ledger book. "See here? This is where I wrote your prayer request in column one when I met you in Front Royal in 1977: 'Barclay Tait: God's choice for a wife.'"Barclay looks and sees it's the most detailed, methodical prayer journal he's ever seen.

"I prayed for you for seven years," proclaimed Dave. "Then in the middle of the night on December 30, 1984, God woke me up out of a sound sleep and said, 'Write in your journal, Prayer Answered.' So I did. See?"

Barclay and Sharon look at each other with their mouths open. They sit down, and their eyes fill with tears. Quietly, Barclay tells Dave, "That was the day we were married."

I'd like to dig out Alfred J. Pierce's work on astro-meteorology. He was very successfull and included some information on the effects of comets. It would be good to observe weather patterns at this time and compare what's happening with what these older authors wrote.